How to Produce Interesting Interview Blog Posts

Did you know that every single day, over two million pieces of online content are produced and shared on the internet? Think about that. Two million pieces. We’re talking blog posts, website pages, and website content in all its forms. That’s two million pieces of competing content being cranked out every single day.

It’s too easy for your own blog posts to get lost in the mix. There is just too much background noise. This is especially true when it comes to interviews. As guest posts for SEO purposes continue to fade in the sunset, more and more online entrepreneurs are beginning to use the interview format for SEO purposes.

This has produced a glut of interview blog posts. In fact, they are so numerous nowadays that it’s getting harder telling them apart. This is also the reason why most of them are lousy. If you want your interview blog posts to produce the kind of results that you’re looking for in terms of SEO and brand building, you need to focus on producing posts that are interesting.

Here’s how to do it:

Ask Different Interviewees Different Questions

It’s too tempting to come up with a cookie cutter question package that you mass mail to every influential person in your niche. This is the lazy way to do it. It’s very efficient, sure, but the problem is, the results that come back might not look all that different from the previous interviews that they have done.

There’s a reason why you selected your interviewees. You’ve gone through the time, effort, and bother of identifying these people. Why not expend a few extra minutes learning more about them and their background so you can ask highly customized questions?

When you customize, you are able to produce more engaging interviews. You are able to get higher quality answers from them. Most importantly, you increase your chances of getting an interview that captures the imagination and attract the attention of other influential people in your niche.

Ask Questions That Are Different From Those Asked By Your Competitors

As I have mentioned earlier, interview blog posts are becoming very, very popular now. It seems like everybody is getting on the interview bandwagon. You have to stand out from the competition; otherwise, your interview blog posts will just lay there. It won’t push your brand forward.

This is why it’s worth your time to craft your questions in such a way that they are different from your competitors. You can basically ask for the same type of information, but you can phrase the question with more personality, you can add a few twists here and there. Regardless, you have to structure the questions in such a way that they elicit answers that truly engage the readers of your interview blog posts.

Ask Questions That Throw Off the Interviewee

If you have been interviewing influential people in your niche, you should assume that these people already know the standard questions. In many cases, they probably already have canned answers. Unfortunately, those are the answers that you don’t want.

If you want your interview blog posts to really encourage your target audience’s members to seek out your blog, you have to go the extra mile. You have to ask questions that throw off the interviewee enough that they would say something controversial, or at least something different.

Get Real Controversy Going

There’s a lot of fake drama on the internet, and unfortunately, fake drama is not going to pay your rent. Fake drama is not going to pay your bills. You have to get real drama.

Real controversy is actually easy to build. You have to ask your interviewees specific, pointed questions regarding established authorities or big brands in your niche. The moment you do this and the moment they go out on a limb regarding their impressions, you have all the classic ingredients of a brand-to-brand dialogue that can lead to real controversy.

Real controversy, if managed properly, can lead to a lot of back links, lots of conversation, and definitely lots of industry attention. It’s all about getting attention in your industry. It’s all about expanding your online brand’s reach. Real controversy can get you there. Fake controversy will get you nowhere.